Swing-down shelf



June 26, 1951 E. BRACK 2,558,415

SWING-DOWN SHELF Filed March 3, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

Q3657??? fd June 26, 1951 EEBFHMZK 2,553,415

SWING DOWN SHELF INVENTOR.

2920 eff Patented June 26,1951

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SWING-DOWN SHELF Emil Brack, Western Springs, Ill.

Application March 3, 1947, Serial No. 732,091

1 My invention relates to a shelf mounting whereby a shelf, which is normally located at an elevation beyond convenient reach, may be readily lowered to a position of convenient access-the invention having reference more particularly to a shelf which is supported at each end on a pair of parallel upwardly extending front and rear arms so that the shelf may be swung forwardly and downwardly and is maintained at all times in a level position.

More than one shelf may be employed with the mounting and arranged to swing together to and from the upraised position, and the shelf structure and mounting are preferably incorporated in a cabinet-the invention being designed primarily to provide a kitchen cabinet which may be mounted on the wall at such an elevation that it would ordinarily be necessary to stand on a step ladder or chair to reach the shelf contents and wherein the shelves swing downwardly to a position where the shelf contents may be readily reached from the floor.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide an improved shelf structure whereby shelves which are normally located at an elevated position out of reach, may be swung downwardly to a position of convenient access; to insure maintenance of the shelves in a level position throughout the swinging thereof to and from the upraised position; to provide convenient means to facilitate the raising and lowering of the shelves; and to provide a simple and inexpensive swinging shelf structure which may be incorporated readily in a cabinet in a neat compact manner, these and other objects being accomplished as pointed out more fully hereinafter and as shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a cabinet containing a swinging shelf structure constructed in accordance with my invention, the cabinet doors being broken away to disclose details of the swinging shelf structure;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the cabinet of Fig. 1 taken on the line 22 thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the shelves swung down to the lowermost position;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the shelf structure of Fig. 3 with portions of the bottom shelf broken away to disclose details of construction;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the back wall of the cabinet taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and showing the pulleys for the shelf counterbalancing springs;

Fig. 6 is'a fragmentarysectional view of the 2 Claims. (Cl. 312266) shelf structure taken on the line 6--B of Fig. 3; and

Fig. '7 is a detail view of the pivoted lower end of one of the front supporting arms of the shelf structure.

In the drawing, in which my invention is illustrated in cabinet type form suitable for kitchen use at an elevation on the kitchen wall, the reference numerals l0, l0 indicate the cabinet ends, I I and [2 the cabinet top and bottom respectively, and I3 the back wall. The cabinet preferably has a pair of doors M, M hinged respectively to the end walls ID as indicated at It to swing together at the center as indicated at It to close the cabinet at the front.

The cabinet bottom l2 serves as the lower shelf of the cabinet and between the top I l and bottom [2 are two shelves l1 and I3 which are suitably spaced from one another and from the top I I and bottom [2, and are normally located in the cabinet so that the doors l4, l4 close together at the front thereof.

These shelves I1 and I8, however, are mounted in the cabinet so that when the cabinet doors l4, l4 are open, they may be swung forwardly and downwardly at the front of the cabinet to the position indicated in Fig. 3, so that articles on the shelves I! and I8 are readily accessible to a person standing on the floor even though the cabinet is at a relatively high elevation in the kitchen.

For mounting these shelves I! and 18 for the aforesaid swinging movement, a pair of supporting arms I9 and 20 are provided at each end of the cabinet adjacent the respective end wall [0 and pivoted at their lower ends to the cabinet bottom [2 which serves as a base whereon the shelf structure ll, I8 is mounted to swing forwardly, the arm l9 being at the front of the cabinet and close to the respective wall Ii) and the arm 20 at the rear of the cabinet and spaced a sufiiciently greater distance from the respective end wall ll'l so that the arms 19, 20 swing in different close adjoining planes and lie in side by side relation, as indicated in Fig. 4 when they are swung downwardly to horizontal position.

These arms l9 and 20 may be pivoted at their lower ends in any convenient manner which will permit them to swing down to the side by side relation shown in Fig. i. For example, each front arm [9 may have the lower end thereof bent to form an eye 2|, as shown in Fig. 7, which is confined, between the upturned wings 22 of a bracket '23, on a pivot pin 24, which said bracket 23 is se- "2D in any convenient manner.

cured to the bottom wall |2 of the cabinet close to the respective side wall l0.

Each rear arm 2|] has its lower end bent inwardly toward the center of the cabinet, as indicated at 25, and the inturned end '25 is pivoted in the spaced upwardly extending wings 26 of a bracket 21 which is secured to the bottom wall |2 of the cabinet at such distance from the respective end wall I!) that the arm 20 which is pivoted therein'will swing down close beside the bracket 23 of the corresponding front arm H), a stop 28 being provided on the bottom wall I2 at the side of the bracket 23 against which the arm 20 rests in the down-swung position of the shelves. Preferably, the inturned end 25 of each arm 2|] is retained in position in itsbracket 2! by a cotter pin 29 engaged through said end 2-5 at each end of the bracket 21.

The arms I9 and 2|) extend upwardly in parallel relation in the cabinet, as shown in Fig. 2, to the elevation of the shelf l which is pivoted at each end to the upper ends of a pair of arms l9 and This pivoting may be accomplished, in the same manner as the arms 20' are pivoted at their lower ends, by

turning the upper ends of the arms i9 and 28 inwardly toward the center of the cabinet as at .30 and 3! respectively and engaging these inturned ends in'brackets 32 which are secured to the underside of the shelf 11 with cotter pins --.engaged through said inturned ends as and 3|, as :indicated at 33.

The upper shelf I1 is of a length to extend at --.each end nearly to the respective cabinet end wall ID with sufficient separation, as shown in .Fig. 1, to allow free movement of the shelf I! to and-from the normal position in the cabinet, whereas, the bottom shelf I8 is shorter than the "upper shelf I! to afford sufficient space between the ends thereof and the respective cabinet wall l forfree movement of the front arms l9.

Preferably said lower shelf [8 is longer than the distance between the rear arms 2|? and has the rear corners notched as at 34 in Fig. 4 to'accommodate said arms 28.

Thisshelf I8 is suspended from the upper shelf I! by end hangers 35 and rear hangers 3B, the

"former of which have outturned upper ends 31 secured to the underside of the upper shelf H and inturned lower ends 33 secured to the underside of the lower shelf as shown in Fig. 6, whereas, the rear hangers 36 have inturned upper ends 39 extending over and secured to the top of the 'upper'shelf H and inturned lower ends 40 ex- -she'lves I? and 1'8 are maintained in horizontal position throughout the range of movement thereof, and thus, any articles on these shelves will not "be tipped off therefrom our displaced in the swinging movement of the shelves.

It is desirable to counterbalance the weight of the shelves and their load so that they will swing up and down easily and safely, and I have "found that this may be done advantageously by employing one or more long springs which are distended as the shelves swing downwardly.

Preferably a number of such springs are employed at each 'end, for example, four at each;

end as indicated at 4| and each trained around a separate pulley 42 of a multiple pulley block 43 secured to the back wall l3 of the cabinet near the top as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. One end of each spring 4| is secured to the upper shelf I! at the respective end thereof and near to the rear of the shelf preferably to one of a series of hooks 44 on the shelf, so that it is detachable, and the other end of the spring is secured to the rear wall l3 of the cabinet near the bottom thereof as indicated at 45 in Fig. 2. A series of hooks 46 are also provided on the back wall of the cabinet, one above each pulley 42 location for a purpose hereafter explained.

The pulley blocks 43 may be secured to the back wall '|3 at the inside of the cabinet with the springs 4| extending down along the inner side of the back wall l3, but I prefer to mount the pulley block 43 on the cabinet back wall |3, as shown herein, so that the springs 4| pass through the-back wall at the pulley location, and I provide 'the back wall l3 with channels 41 on the rear side to accommodate the springs 4|, the channels 41 having at their lower ends the fasteners 45 which .may be in the form of header pins, onto which the lower ends of the springs 4| are fastened.

Thus, when the shelves l1, l8 are swung .forwardly and downwardly, the long springs 4| are stretched over their pulleys 42, the tension thereof increasing as the load thereon increases in the downward swinging movement, so that the tension is substantially proportionate to the'load at all times, and. manual operation of the shelves is thus rendered .quite easy.

The load on the shelves |8 may vary, and it is for this purpose of affording tension according to the load that a series of springs 4| are employed-at each end of the shelf structure and the hooks 46 above .the pulleys 42. Thus, when the shelves I8 are heavily'loaded, all of the springs 4| maybe employed for counterbalancing the shelf structure, but if the shelf structure has a lighter load, one or more of the springs 4| may be detached from the shelf hooks 44 and engaged with the corresponding hook 46 thereabove so that only such number of springs 4| is employed as the load on the shelves I1, 18 may require.

The rear arms .20, as .hereinbefore indicated, rest on their respectivestops 28 when the shelf structure is swung down to the lowermost position,

and it is also desirable to provide supports which will at the same time limit the downward swinging movement of the front arms |9. To this end, a chain-48v is provided .at each end of the cabinet, one end of which is attached to the respective cabinet end wall It! as indicated at .49, and the other end of which is attached to aclamp 50 on the corresponding front arm I 9 at a substantial distance from the pivot .25 thereof. Thus, when the shelf structure I8 is swung downwardly to the Fig. 3 position, the chains 48 are outstretched as shown in said figure so that they limit downward movement ofsaid front arms l9, and when the shelf structure is'swung upwardly to the normal position in the cabinet as shown in Fig. 2, said chains are looped at the inner side of their re- -:.spective endwalls ID as shownin said Fig. 2.

When the shelves |-.8 are in the lowered position, some forward and rearward tilting of the shelf structure might occur, and to safeguard against anysuch tilting andalso to hold the shelf structure in the lowermost position against any accidental upward movement, .I havePr-ovided tlatch means'tO enga e :under the arms "I9 :when

the shelf structure is in the lowermost position of Fig. 3.

This latching means comprises a vertical shaft 5| at each end of the shelf structure near the rear and journaled in the shelves I! and I8 to rotate, and each shaft 5| has an arm 52 thereon which, by turning movement of the respective shaft 5|, may be swung outwardly, to engage under the respective arm l9, as shown in Fig. 6, when the shelf structure is in the lowered position of Fig. 3.

Thus, when the shelf structure is lowered and the latch arms 52 engaged under the arms l9, the outer end of each arm I3 is confined between the overhanging end of the top shelf El and the respective latch arm 52 as shown in Fig. 6, and the shelf structure not only may not then be lifted from the lowered position until the latches 52 are released, but no forward and rearward tilting of the shelf structure may occur.

For operating the latches 52, a handle 53 is provided at the underside of the shelf l8 near the front thereof, which said handle also affords a convenient means whereby the shelf structure may be raised and lowered.

This handle 53 is pivoted to the shelf |8 to rotate on a vertical axis and has an arm 54 extending rearwardly therefrom and connected by a pair of links 55 with crank arms 55 on the lower ends of the shafts 5|, directly below the shelf l8, the

crank arm 56 of one shaft being extended forwardly from its shaft 5| as indicated at the left end of Fig. 4 and the crank arm 56 of the other shaft 5| being extended rearwardly from its shaft 5| as shown at the right end of Fig. 4 so that when the shafts 5| are rotated by the handle 53 and connecting links 55, one shaft 5| rotates ina clockwise direction while the other shaft 5| r0- tates in a counter-clockwise direction. The latch arms 52 are located on their shafts 5| so that in the rotation of the handle 53 in one direction, both latch members are swung outwardly to engage under the arms i9, and in the rotation of the handle 53 in the reverse direction, both latches 52 are retracted from underneath the arms l9.

Thus, when the shelf structure l1, I8 is to be lowered, the handle 53 is grasped and the shelf structure pulled downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3, whereupon a turn of the handle 53 latches the shelf structure in this position in which it is retained until the handle 53 is grasped and turned to release the latches 52, whereupon the shelf structure may be pushed up to the normal position in the cabinet.

While I have shown and described my invention in preferred forms, I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the principles of the invention, the scope of which is to be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a structure of the class described the combination of a base, a shelf unit comprising an upper shelf and at least one shelf therebelow supported by the upper shelf, said upper shelf having at each end a parallelogrammic connection with the base whereby the shelf unit is supported at an elevation above the base and swings downwardly to a location in front of the base,

each said connection comprising a pair of parallel arms having their upper ends pivoted to the underside of the upper shelf in spaced relation at the front and rear respectively of the shelf and having their lower ends pivoted to said base in correspondingly spaced apart relation, counterbalancing means which exerts a progressively increasing lifting tension on the shelf as it swings from said elevation above the base to said location in front of the base, latching means on the shelf unit engageable with one of the aforesaid parallel arms at each end of the shelf to hold the shelf in said location in front of the base, and a handle on the underside of the lowermost shelf at the front thereof which is connected with and operable to release said latching means.

2. In a structure of the class described the combination of a. cabinet having a back wall, end walls, and a top wall and a bottom wall forming an enclosed shelf space in front of the back wall, a shelf unit in said space comprising an upper shelf and at least one shelf therebelow supported by the upper shelf, said upper shelf having at each end a parallelogrammic connection with said bottom wall whereby the shelf unit is supported at an elevation above said bottom wall and swings outwardly from the cabinet space and downwardly to a location in front of said cabinet bottom wall, each said connection comprising a pair of parallel arms having their upper ends pivoted to the upper shelf in spaced relation at the front and rear respectively of the shelf and having their lower ends pivoted to said cabinet bottom wall in correspondingly spaced apart relation, shelf unit counterbalancing means which exerts a progressively increasing lifting tension on the shelf unit as it swings from said elevation above the cabinet bottom wall to said location in front of the cabinet bottom wall, latching means on the shelf unit engageable with one of the aforesaid parallel arms at each end of the shelf unit to hold the shelf unit in said location in front of the cabinet bottom wall, and a handle on the underside of the lowermost shelf at the front thereof which is connected with and manually operable to release said latching means.

EMIL BRACK,

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 290,168 Basford Dec. 11, 1883 349,117 Oswell Sept. 14, 1886 612,987 Cary Oct, 25, 1898 749,653 Arnold Jan. 12, 1904 943,443 McClure Dec. 14,. 1909 1,038,974 Schutz Sept. 17, 1912 1,106,311 Leopold Aug. 4, 1914 1,188,847 Shaw June 27, 1916 1,200,821 Dyke Oct. 10, 1916 1,225,797 Gardner May 15,. 1917 1,247,306 Markus Nov. 20,, 1917 1,317,274 Dierkes Sept. 30, 1919 1,369,303 De Haven Feb. 22, 1921 2,085,479 Shaffer June 29, 1937 

